Ridable toy animal



March 1, J, A. E

RIDABLE TOY ANIMAL Filed Feb. 10, 1964 United States Patent RIDABLE TOYANIMAL James Leon Alexandre See, 54 Rue la Bruyere, Paris, FrancelFiletl Feb. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 343,893 Claims priority, applicationFrance, Feb. 11, 1963,

1 Claim. (Cl. 280-1183) This invention relates to the field of toys andmore particularly to toys which conform to the shape of animals orsimilar objects and which are capable of supporting a child who can, byhis own movements, produce a unidirectional motion therein.

Toys in the form of a horse, or other animal, having all four legsarticulated with respect to the body and spring-loaded in such a waythat Vertical movements of the mounted child cause the front legs toalternately move away from and towards the rear legs, are alreadywellknown in the art. Such devices are usually furnished with ratchetwheels which permit the toy to move in only one direction under theeffect of the childs movements.

This toy is realistic enough since the child imitates, more or less, themovements of a rider and since the toy horse advances by moving itslimbs.

On the other hand no attempt at all is made to achieve realism withregard to the appearance of a real horse since the materials used andthe shapes employed (which must necessarily be simple) are far removedfrom reality, principally for reasons of economy.

Moreover, the various motion-production mechanisms previously conceivedare complicated, fragile and expensive, if for no other reason than thatthe very conception according to which these prior art toys wereconstructed, made it necessary that such joints, pivots and other organsbe used.

The present invention overcomes all of these inconveniences andshortcomings, since it envisions an animal, the appearance and textureof which approximates more closely those of a real animal, and alsosince it does not require any delicate or complicated mechanism.

To these ends, the object of the present invention is the provision of atoy in the form of an animal, the forward and rear members of which canbe spread apart from each other elastically and which rest on wheelswhich include means for permitting movement in only one direction,characterized in that the body of this animal is constituted by aflexible pneumatic chamber upon which are aifixed, preferably in adetachable manner, the rigid limbs of the animal.

According to one particular embodiment of the present invention, thefront legs are connected to the rear legs by one or several detachableelastic bands.

According to one feature of the present invention, the unidirectionalmovement of the wheels is obtained by means of a small wheel which actsas a wedge and which is attached to a stirrup in such a way as to betangent to its wheel, the stirrup being in turn pivotally mounted on theaxle of each wheel in such a way as to straddle its respective wheel, orby means of a metallic tongue affixed to the horses legs in such a wayas to become engaged in the teeth of a ratchet which rotates with itsrespective wheel axle.

Other features of the present invention will become better understoodfrom the following detailed description taken in connection with theattached drawing which illustrates the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

The figure represents a perspective view of a toy according to thepresent invention, the dotted lines showing one of its positions when inuse, i.e. when subjected to the weight of a rider.

Patented Mar. 1, 1966 As it is shown in the figure, the toy according tothe present invention is in the form of a horse and is constituted by aninflatable envelope made from a suitable synthetic material.

The envelope comprises a body portion 1 (including the head and theneck) carrying four rigid bases or sockets 6 which are cemented orotherwise securely joined to body portion 1. The four legs 2, 3, 4 and 5are rigid in nature and have their upper ends screwed into or otherwisesuitably secured in the sockets 6 for connection by the latter to bodyportion 1. The other or lower ends of the legs 2-5 are rigidly connectedto respective yokes '7, and the latter rotatably support the axles 8 and9 on which rolling wheels 10, 11, 12 and 13 are mounted.

Stirrups 14 extend from the axles 8 and 9 and carry small solid wheelsor castors 15 which are mounted for free rotation.

Finally, an elastic cord 16 is connected between the two axles 8 and 9.

When the child is mounted in the saddle, he alternately raises himselfup in the stirrups 17 and allows himself to fall back into the saddle.In allowing himself to fall back, he deforms the pneumatic envelope 1 sothat it conforms to the outline shown in broken lines, and thereby tendsto cause the front legs 2 and 3 to move away from the rear legs 4 and 5.The small wheels 15, which are tangent to their respective large wheelsand which are mounted to the rear of the respective axles 8 and 9,become wedged between the rear wheels 12 and 13 and the ground, thuspreventing these wheels from moving rearwardly. However, these smallwheels do not prevent forward movement of their respective legs, so thatthe wheels 10 and 11 are permitted to move forward and the resultingforward movement of legs 2 and 3 relative to legs 4 and 5 createstension in the elastic cord 16.

When the child raises himself up, the envelope 1 regains its originalshape (solid lines) because the elastic cord 16 pulls the axles 8 and 9back towards their original separation. At this time, the small wheelsact as wedges to prevent the backward movement of wheels 10 and 11 andpermit the wheels 12 and 13 to move forward. The childs verticalmovements have thus been translated into a forward movement of thehorse.

One important advantage of the toy which has just been described residesin the fact that it can be stored in a very small space when it isdeflated.

In order to prevent the envelope from experiencing an excessive amountof wear due to flexure at the points where the legs are joined thereto,the legs can be connected in two pairs transversally across the body 1so as to prevent any excessive stretching.

According to the weight of the child, extra elastic cords 16 can beadded since they are easily removable from the axles 8 and 9, beingsimply hooked thereon.

In order to assure a better braking of the wheels, the small casters canbe given an irregular shape. The manner in which the stirrups 14 aremounted also easily permits them to be easily rotated around axles 8 and9 so that the castors 15 rest in front of their respective wheels andthus force the horse to move backward. By placing only the castersassociated with wheels 10 and 11 towards the front, one suppresses allmovement of the toy, while the placing of all of the casters in such away that they rest on the upper parts of the wheels causes the legs tomove forward and back but prevents the animal from travelling in anydirection.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, the wheels 10-13 couldeach be provided with a metallic tongue which is fastened to arespective leg and which engages a ratchet wheel which is integrallyconnected for rotation with its respective wheel.

The inflatable envelope gives the impression of a true horse for morethan do those constructed from wood or other hard material. In order toincrease the simulation, the envelope could be given a coating ofartificial hair or fur by gluing, or by other suitable means.

While there have herein been described several preferred forms whichthis invention may take, it should be understood that many modificationsare possible without departing from the spirit thereof and that thescope of the present invention is intended to be limited only by thebreadth of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A toy conforming to the shape of an animal for permitting a child tosimulate riding of said animal, comprising: a pneumatic envelopeconstituting a body portion in the shape of the torso, head and neck ofsaid animal, a plurality of rigid base members equal in number to thenumber of limbs possessed by said animal and mounted on said envelope atlocations corresponding to the junctions of the limbs of said animalwith its torso, a 20 plurality of rigid limbs equal in number to saidbase members, each of said limbs being detachably secured at its upperend to a respective one of said base members, a plurality of main wheelseach of which is mounted in a freely rotatable manner on the lowerextremity of a respective one of said limbs, a pair of axles, one ofsaid axles joining the axes of said wheels mounted on the front limbs ofsaid animal and the other of said axles joining the axes of said wheelsmounted on the rear limbs of said animal, and at least one extensibleelastic band detachably connected between said pair of axles.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,440,088 12/1922Kroher 2801.182 2,379,192 6/1945 Sebel 2801.l82 2,738,199 3/1956 Rand280--1.182

LEO FRIAGLIA, Primary Examiner.

